Man carrying ski pole upsets dog owners in Coquitlam park

A man with a ski pole has dog owners who frequent Miller Park in Coquitlam concerned.

David McCollum says the unidentified man approached, and then poked his leashed Chinese sharpei T-bo Monday morning. McCollum was waking his daughter to school through Miller Park at the time. 

"This fellow with a ski pole started coming into the pathway...on an angle, just like you would angle someone off in hockey," McCollum told CBC. "And as soon as he got close to T-bo he jabbed him with the ski pole."

McCollum says he contacted both police and the Coquitlam bylaw office. The dog was not injured.

Leah Bodnaruk claims she's had a number of run-ins with the man, and has herself been threatened while walking her dog in Miller Park. 

"He came up to us...he was not aiming his ski pole at my dog but at us, towards my stomach and chest area," Bodnaruk said. 

Scared of dogs

CBC knocked on the front door of the home where the unidentified man lives. He did not want to give his name but did say he was afraid of dogs, and that he carries the pole to protect himself from off-leash dogs that are running around the on-leash area. 

"I have been constantly harassed through this park," the man said. "I think that it's not right that people cannot peacefully pass through this park."

The man also insisted he did not do "more than was necessary".

Local dog walkers have posted pictures of the man with his ski pole to the Miller Park Hounds Facebook page.

"You can't just assault something"

"I told him he was completely wrong," said McCollum, "that you can't just assault something because you're afraid of it."

The BC SPCA has opened an investigation and want to talk to the owners who claim their dogs have been assaulted.

Coquitlam animal control bylaws state, "An owner of a dog may allow the dog to be at large in an off leash area, so long as the owner: carries a leash; keeps the dog under control; and maintains a clear line of sight to the dog at all times."